This blog covers world political issues, mostly about LGBT news and rights, and other topics of my interest.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Saint George's Day in Barcelona

Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia, like in several Christian nations and countries. This Catalan feast has similarities to Valentine's Day because the main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved and relatives.

The Catalan tradition is to celebrate this day with roses and books. For that reason, in Barcelona and all cities and villages of Catalonia, people give away roses and books to each other.

Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the books are more recent and commemorate the nearly simultaneous death of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare on April 23.